Arsenal host Crystal Palace at the Emirates in a top-of-the-table clash that nobody predicted at the start of the season. Palace are the surprise side of the first quarter of the Premier League season, along with Sunderland. Oliver Glasner’s side were holding second in the table for a while and were the last unbeaten side in the PL until falling to Everton at the start of the month. Arsenal are top but Manchester City are right on their heels, as are a handful of other teams in the chasing pack.
It’s still early in the season, so the table has yet to thin out. The Gunners could help do that by continuing to win matches.
Glasner, who led Palace to an FA cup triumph in the spring, has made his side difficult to beat. They are well-organized and don’t concede too many goals, apart from their wild 3-3 with Bournemouth last weekend. They are quite strong on the counter. Ismaila Sarr and Daniel Munoz are a dangerous 1-2 punch down the right. Yeremy Pino provides craft on the left. Jean-Philippe Mateta is a battering ram of striker whose skill and finishing ability is often overshadowed by his physicality but shouldn’t be — he’s the complete package. They’ve got Adam Wharton, one of the most coveted young English midfielders in the world, getting them the ball from the middle of the pitch. And they’ve got an experienced pair of defenders in Marc Guehi and Chris Richards, along with newcomer Maxence Lacroix, who has settled in nicely.
Palace suffered a surprising 1-0 home loss to Cypriot side AEK Larnaca in the Conference League on Thursday. Couple that with their 3-3 draw last weekend and a 2-1 loss to Everton in early October and they’re in the midst of a bit of a wobble. That can cut a couple of ways. Maybe they’re not as good as they looked to open the campaign. Maybe they’re particularly motivated to snap out of their streak of dropped points. Maybe they’re worn out from playing Thursday-Sunday. It’s tough to know. But that’s the nice thing about sportswriting — you get to pick the narrative that best suits after seeing the action.
Eberechi Eze gets the start in his first match against his former club, which is to be expected. That’s just kind of how it works. Hopefully he captures some of the magic against Palace that every former Arsenal player seems to find when they return to face the Gunners.
Arsenal will be without Noni Madueke, Kai Havertz, Martin Ødegaard, and Gabriel Jesus. Havertz is probably nearest to making his return from that group, although Madueke likely isn’t far behind. Ødegaard admitted in his recent program notes that it’s tricky for him to set a return date, although most think it’ll be sometime after the November international break. Gabriel Jesus posted that he’d taken another step forward in his return, but he’s not expected back until December at the earliest. Gabriel Magalhaes hasn’t trained since the Atletico Madrid game. He faces a late fitness test to determine his availability. UPDATE: Gabriel starts.
Crystal Palace will be without Cheick Doucouré and Chadi Riad, who have yet to play this season. Chris Richards and Adam Wharton did not start in the midweek loss, although the young midfielder (Wharton) came off the bench. Both were rotation decisions and will be good to go against the Gunners.
Arsenal – Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Rice, Eze, Saka, Trossard, Gyokeres
Crystal Palace – Henderson, Munoz, Richard, Lacroix, Guehi, Mitchell, Wharton, Kamada, Sarr, Pino, Mateta
WHAT: Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace
WHERE: The Emirates Stadium
WHEN: Sunday, October 26th 7 am PT | 10 am ET | 5 pm BT
US TV: Streaming on Peacock.
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